


spirals of ink

by reeseo



Category: Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, Human AU, Other, Romantic Soulmates, it only comes up like once though so whatevs, ive literally been so excited to post this, nonbinary sparx, not quite a oneshot.... but i did write it in way less than three days, sparx is a he/him lesbian, spova week, two aus in one for alternate universe dayy, what are capital letters in the title
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-21 05:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19996846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeseo/pseuds/reeseo
Summary: Your tenth birthday is when you can start writing things to your soulmate. Pen ink, paint, et cetera- once it touches your skin after the stroke of midnight, somehow, it touches someone else’s as well.Nova had woken up one morning to a lazy drawing of a rocket ship.-spova soulmate au, anyone?





	spirals of ink

**Author's Note:**

> hey hey hey! happy spova week yall  
> uhh the only relationship is sparx/nova obvs but i tagged it as f/f+other bc like i said in the tags, i headcanon sparx as a he/him+nonbinary lesbian! i left it with f/m though because the og ship Is Heterosexual so. yea! u can pretty much ignore the lesbianism if its not ur cup of tea bc it only really comes up once anyways  
> enjoy my fic please do not flame

Your tenth birthday is when you can start writing things to your soulmate. Pen ink, paint, et cetera- once it touches your skin after the stroke of midnight, somehow, it touches someone else’s as well.

Nova had woken up one morning to a lazy drawing of a rocket ship.

She had already been writing to her soulmate for roughly two months. Excited, she drew some fire coming out of the end of the rocket.

Her soulmate responded with a planet and some stars.

The rest of the morning had gone more or less the same- crude drawings of space spreading across her arm like a rash. Eventually, her mom called her down for breakfast, smiling fondly at Nova while she showed off the spectacular design she and her soulmate had created on her arm.

Two hours later, Nova scribbled an apology before washing it off- pretty as it was, she couldn't go to a birthday party with her arm covered in ink.

She didn't remember to tell her friends about her soulmate for at least another month.

-

When Nova was twelve, she had her first kiss. It was short, barely a brushing of the lips, with a guy during spin-the-bottle at the house of a person she didn’t know (but that Sparx had dragged her to anyways).

That night, she crawled into bed, and with shaking fingers told her soulmate, _I think I like girls._

_Oh,_ is what her soulmate replied.

_Me too._

Nova almost cried with relief when she read it.

It doesn’t matter when a year later her soulmate told her they think they’re a boy _(although it does once again when another year later they backtrack, and the word ‘nonbinary’ first comes into Nova’s consciousness)_ , because she finally has someone else who knows how it feels. She has other people who understand, now, and as much as she loves her soulmate she knows that they can’t be the only other person like her.

Antauri is the first person she told. 

Then Otto.

Her mom and dad, and then Gibson.

Until one day, when Sparx finally caught wind and gave her the strongest (and most out of character, at the time) hug she’d ever gotten. She couldn’t remember why she ever kept it a secret from her family.

\- 

When she was fourteen, Nova wrinkled her nose at Sparx. “Long sleeves again?”

Sparx glared at her for a moment, before crossing his arms defensively. “What?”

Nova rolled her eyes. “It's like a million degrees out.”

Sparx scoffed. “Not all of us are willing to go around parading some of the shit we say to our soulmates.”

Nova felt heat rush to her face, and she scowled at him. He raised an indifferent eyebrow towards her, expression cold. Nova turned away, self-consciously covering the “I love you” she had written to her soulmate earlier that day. “Whatever.”

Sparx just rolled his eyes and started walking.

She washed her arm twice as hard as usual that night.

\- 

Sparx had stopped talking to his soulmate, lately.

Early on, he’d gotten the idea that even though this person was his soulmate, he didn’t want them to be bogged down by some of the... _weirder_ aspects of his personal life. (How was he supposed to tell someone his best friend’s brother was arrested for trying to take over the city? That wasn’t something you could just casually drop into conversation, and it was only the tip of the weirdness iceberg.)

Before, he didn’t have a phone number to give. By the time they both realized their means of contact could extend beyond simple doodles and reassuring messages, he was so scared of his soulmate not liking the ‘real him’ that he refused all methods of real communication. Every time they brought up phone numbers, or meeting, he would panic and change the topic immediately.

It's not that he didn’t want to keep talking to them. But the concept of being rejected by the one person who was supposed to accept him unconditionally? While the possibility of it happening was slim, it was still something that made a deep ache settle in his gut.

Sparx couldn't be rejected if he cut off contact first.

His soulmate still left him messages, of course. Small doodles on his shoulder, a reminder that they were still here if he ever decided to say something back again, an occasional silly message like a circle on his thigh with “I have a mosquito bite here” written in big, angry letters.

Sparx was turning fifteen, and the last time he had written to his soulmate was four months ago.

On his birthday, five years after the first rocket ship, he draws a star on his right shoulder, and nothing else. 

\- 

Nova had long since given up on trying to get her soulmate to reply. 

The most they would ever give her was maybe a grocery list on their forearm, or an idle spiral curling along their stomach. Why were they writing on their stomach in permanent marker? Wouldn't it be hard to wash off? Apparently not, given everything they wrote to her (on the rare occasions they did) disappeared within the hour.

And sure, she missed when she could open her heart along her arm. When she could see curls of ink along every inch of skin and know she had someone she could always confide in.

She wondered if they would ever reply if she started pouring her heart out again.

\- 

“Me and my soulmate stopped talking ages ago. It’s none of your business as to why,” Sparx said casually.

Nova scowled at her own unresponsive skin. Sparx felt a surge of emotions, ranging from glee that his teasing got to her to pity that her soulmate stopped replying to hope that he actually had a chance to be with her.

_Focus, Sparx._

“Don’t you think it's a little cruel to be leaving your soulmate hanging like that?” Nova accused.

The lie flowed easily off of his tongue. “My soulmate hasn't said anything to me in ages either.” Sparx turned his head to the side disinterestedly, picking at his nails. “Maybe your soulmate has shit they’re busy with, Noves. If they supposedly cared that much, I’m sure they'll come around one of these days.” 

He hadn’t said it with sarcasm or malice, but Sparx’s words were still far from comforting. Nova grumbled to herself and crossed her arms, where he can see her skin was just as blank as his own.

Something about it made his stomach drop. Whether he was in love with her or not, Sparx knew she deserved someone who could give her the kind of support she actually needed these days.

If he wasn't such a hypocrite, Sparx would give the person a piece of his mind.

He drew an extra star on his hip before he goes to sleep that night. It didn’t wash off for at least a day.

\- 

Nova gave Sparx an odd look. He laughed nervously. “What?”

Nova smiled softly, before her eyes flitted to the side. “Nothing,” she said unconvincingly.

“You're a terrible liar, you know that?”

Nova laughed. “I was just thinking about what you said.”

“I’ve said a lot of things, you're gonna have to be more specific than that, Nova.”

“Remember? That time we all went on the camping trip, and we looked at the stars?”

Sparx remembered. It had been a crisp summer night, the third night of a week-long trip in a cabin with the five of them, about a month before they met Chiro. He and Nova had made a bet on who could make it to the top of a massive hill next to their site first. Nova had won by a landslide.

The two had stargazed for an hour and a half. They probably would’ve fallen asleep there if Antauri hadn’t come up to retrieve them.

It was the first time the two of them had really, actually talked. He told her the stories of the constellations, pointing them out to her- and when she couldn't find them, he had gingerly taken her hand and leaned his head next to hers. He had the two of them point them out as one and dropped his voice, making the moment that much more intimate.

“I didn't know you were so into astrology,” she had said teasingly. He’d shrugged, and looked back up at the sky. “I think it's amazing that stories like this can be carried across so many people. Hercules has been around for over two thousand years. Imagine that.”

He’d closed his eyes and dropped her hand, putting his own behind his head in false casualness. “I hope I can make a story like that someday.”

Nova was smiling, still, now. Sparx looked at her, baffled. “Why are you thinking about it?”

Nova shrugged one shoulder, and crossed her hands behind her head, smirking slightly. “I use that memory to remind myself you’re not as cheap as you appear.”

Sparx’s inquisitive look sharpened to a frown, but there was no real malice behind it. He elbowed her playfully. “Yeah, underneath my cool exterior I've got a heart of gold.”

Nova elbowed him back. “Sure, I’ll believe it, for once.”

Sparx laughed and leaned back in his chair. “I’m like Han Solo.”

“Except way less sexy.”

“Hey, I’m foxy as hell!”

“In your dreams, Sparky.”

It was times like these that the two remembered they were actually friends.

\- 

Nova sighed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes with a sense of finality. “I think I’m giving up on trying to fall in love with my soulmate.”

Sparx raised his eyebrows in surprise, and swiveled his chair around to face her. “What makes you say that?”

Nova gave a half-shrug, turning to the side. “I dunno. I just think that I should open up my possibilities.”

Sparx smiled at her- a genuine smile, the first one she'd seen from him in a while. “I’m sure you deserved better anyways.”

Nova shrugged again, and fiddled with her pencil. “We used to be really close, too.” She groaned, and laid her head on her desk. “I wonder why they stopped talking to me.”

Sparx hesitantly laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and rubbed a soft circle there. His soulmate, too, had stopped talking to him- he hadn't woken up to an idle daisy or anything, really, in a good few weeks. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with you.”

Nova groaned again and sat up, Sparx’s hand remaining on her shoulder. “I just wish I knew why. I hope they’re doing okay.”

Now it was Sparx’s turn to shrug. “I’m sure they’ll start talking to you again when they're ready.”

Nova gave a soft smile, and unconsciously leaned closer into Sparx’s touch. “Yeah. Sure.”

If this was Sparx’s life without a soulmate, he was sure he could manage. Sparx gave Nova a one-armed hug, and smiled into her hair.

-

Sparx realized he was in love with Nova on a cool autumn evening, when she was complaining loudly about the cold and crunching leaves under her boots.

She probably wasn't doing it with the intention of convincing him to give her his coat, but damn if she didn't accomplish it.

Sparx had shuddered from the chill as the wind breezed through his thin t-shirt. Her look of surprise and gratitude as she took the jacket, and her lack of protest as he slung his arm over her shoulder, had kept his insides warm for days.

-

Nova isn’t sure when she started falling for Sparx, but by the time she realized, she knew there was no turning back.

It was on a quiet rainy day, with just the six of them on the ground at school, under a dry patch just large enough for them to sit. Otto had just made the worst pun, and Sparx was laughing like its the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

Nova’s heart caught in her throat as he leaned back on his hands, eyes closed and a gaudy street light illuminating his hair through the water, giving it a light shine.

Sparx noticed her staring, and winked at her like they've just shared an inside joke, but otherwise didn't comment.

That night, Nova asked her soulmate if they've ever been in love.

She was about to fall asleep when she saw the “yes” tentatively given to her in reply, before all the words disappeared within seconds.

Nova smiled to herself, and didn’t press the issue further.

-

Sparx never considered himself someone brave. He didn’t talk to his soulmate at all because he was afraid they- the person _literally supposed to be meant for him_ \- wouldn’t like him. He fell off the monkey bars as a kid once and now he refused to jump off of anything higher than a good three feet.

So he had no idea what came over him when he decided to reach over and entwine his fingers with Nova’s. If she looked at him in surprise, he didn’t know, because his gaze was fixated determinedly in the other direction as they were walking to school together.

He felt his hand sweating already, and he felt heat rushing to his head, making him almost sick with dizziness. Nova just gently squeezed his hand and pulled him closer, talking about meaningless things.

When Sparx finally worked up the nerve to look at Nova, she was smiling, and he found it in himself to smile back when she gave his hand a second small, reassuring squeeze.

-

Nova was doing her homework when her soulmate wrote to her for the first time in almost a year.

They had written smaller things to her, before- but a flower on her stomach or a heart on her thigh didn’t exactly count, did it? This was a full sentence.

Nova watched the writing intently.

_hey, soulmate. it’s been a while, huh? um. sorry for leaving you hanging, i guess._

Before they could say more, Nova scrambled to uncap the pen in her hand. _It’s okay. Shit happens, right?_

A pause.

_yeah. guess so._

_If it helps_ , Nova started, _I have another friend who doesn’t talk to their soulmate._

_yeah_ , they said. _me too._

_Good on us for having some support system, I guess?_

_yeah._

_Why’d you finally reply?_

Nova’s soulmate seemed to be thinking for a minute. _i have a question i need to ask you._

_Shoot._

_what do you do when you’re, like, totally head over heels for a girl but can’t admit it?_

-

Nova had fallen asleep on her desk that night. Her back and neck both ached, but it was worth it to finally get to talk to her soulmate again.

She knew they hadn’t told her everything. How could they? Over a year of little to no actual contact, it was like talking to an entirely new person.

At least they agreed on one thing- it was best for them to remain on this tentative line between being honest and hiding most aspects of their real life, rather than spilling their hearts out all over again. They both knew they didn’t feel totally comfortable confiding in each other- maybe this sort of understanding is why they were “meant to be”.

The first thing Nova did was tell Sparx.

“I- Wow, really? That’s- that’s great, Nova.”

Nova grinned at Sparx, and slung her arm over his shoulder, pulling him down to her height. “We agreed it was better for us to basically continue to not be very close.”

Sparx laughed. “Better than avoiding each other all the time, I guess.”

He pulled himself out of her grip, and ruffled her hair playfully. “I’m happy for you.”

She swatted his hand away and giggled. “Thanks, Sparx. I’m glad you’ve been supporting me through my dumb soulmate crisis.” She elbowed him in the ribs. “Even if you were a dick sometimes.”

Sparx rolled his eyes at her. “Yeah, yeah, I love you too.”

-

Sparx stifled a laugh. “You’ve never danced before?”

Nova shot him a look. “Of course I’ve danced before, Sparx. Just-- not in this sort of context.”

“You’ve never had to learn the waltz for a weird summer camp or anything?”  


“You know, I didn’t confide in you for you to laugh at me.”

“Alright, alright! I’m sorry.”

Nova huffed a little, and crossed her arms. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

Sparx pursed his lips for a moment, before he seemingly came to a conclusion. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. “I can teach you.”

Nova’s gaze snapped to him. “What?”

Sparx’s throat suddenly felt very dry. “You need to learn, right? I can teach you. How to waltz.”

Nova stared at Sparx for a second, before sighing. “You know what? Fine. I’ve done weirder.”

Sparx laughed a little. “You don’t seem very sure of this.”

“Oh, forgive me for worrying the person who just made fun of me will give me an easy dance lesson,” Nova said, rolling her eyes.

“I said sorry!”

“Whatever. Let’s just get this over with,” Nova muttered, walking over to Sparx. “What do we have to do?”

Sparx frowned a little, before taking a step closer to Nova. “Unfortunately for us, waltzing together requires actual human contact.”

Nova stifled a small snort at that. Sparx smiled.

“Come here,” Sparx said gently. His hand laid softly on Nova’s waist, and he guided her hand up to his shoulder. “Uh, for all it’s paraded around, the waltz is a pretty simple dance.”

He was not going to get distracted by how close they were. He _wasn’t_.

“The person leading is the one with their hand on the other’s waist. So, um.” Sparx all but threw his hands off of Nova’s waist to her shoulders, and Nova, getting the idea, laid her hands on Sparx’s waist instead, switching their positions. He shivered a little at the contact, and hoped she didn’t notice. “You’re gonna want to lead, so.”

Nova nodded once. Sparx pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it to a song he recognized but didn’t bother to pay attention to, and placed it on his desk. Tentatively, he reached from where Nova’s right hand was laying on his waist and took it in his own, and began showing Nova the steps, praying his hand wasn’t too obviously sweaty.

Nova was a fast learner, which was good for Sparx, because he was already bad enough at explaining things when he had his head on straight. When he wasn’t getting distracted by what felt like a million things happening at once.

Like how Nova’s grip on his waist would get tighter when they spun too fast. How she would purse her lips ever so slightly when she stepped on his foot, which happened a lot. Or how well her hand fit into his, or too many other things to list because all too suddenly they’d just started swaying to the music, standing there without moving their feet. Nova was looking at Sparx in a way he didn’t understand, but that made his heart beat so loudly he was sure she could hear it.

Something about the way she looked at him, and the atmosphere of the music, and how she leaned in just that much more to lay her head against his chest, made Sparx feel like this was an incredibly unique moment. Like it was the only chance he would ever get for what he was about to do.

“Nova?”

She didn’t move her head. “Yeah, Sparx?”

“I, uh,” he started, swallowing down his nerves. His pulse thundered in his ears. “I just have to say… I-“

Nova’s phone started ringing in her front pocket, cutting Sparx off and startling them both with its sound and vibration. 

_Shit_.

Nova pulled away, frowning slightly, and checked it. “It’s my dad. I’ll be right back.”

Sparx nodded weakly, his chest feeling hollow. When she went into the hallway with a “What’s up?” into her phone, Sparx sagged into his chair, putting a hand to his heart. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself.

Nova came in a minute later. “He says it’s time for me to head home. Doesn’t want me walking home alone in the dark or something.”

Sparx could only nod again as he helped her gather her things. Before they’d gotten distracted by… various things, Nova was _supposed_ to be at Sparx’s house for a study session.

“I’ll walk you to the door?” Sparx offered awkwardly. Nova grinned at him, and shouldered her backpack. “My, what a gentleman” she teased.

Sparx chuckled a little and rubbed the short hair on the back of his neck- a nervous gesture he’d developed when he first got his hair cut short, one that never truly went away. “Of course.”

Nova smiled at him knowingly, and as she was about to walk out, stood on her toes to give Sparx a kiss on the cheek. “See you tomorrow,” she called, walking out and away.

Sparx stood there almost like a statue, before he slowly raised his hand to his cheek, where he felt like he’d been burned. (Maybe it was just the blood rushing upward towards his head.)

He smiled goofily out the door, and closed it, before grabbing a pen.

He and his soulmate had a lot of talking to do.

-

When Nova was seventeen, she asked Sparx out on a date.

“Wh- excuse me? Go out? Like a date? With me?” Sparx sputtered, his usually chilled-out demeanor shattering like a porcelain doll.

Nova laughed and patted his cheek gently. “What else would I mean?”

Sparx’s cheeks reddened, and he looked away. “If this is some prank from Otto-“

Nova’s hand trailed down gently to his chest, and Sparx’s sentence trailed off with it. Nova grinned at him teasingly. “What, surprised your flirtatious persona paid off?”

Sparx took a step away from her and ran his hands through his hair. “I haven’t flirted with you in months and you know it.”

Nova raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s gotten you so surprised?”

Sparx cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’m more surprised that you like me even though you know I’m basically horseshit past the flirty persona.”

Nova’s eyes widened slightly at the confession, before she gently took Sparx’s hand, prying it away from where it was fiddling with a stray hair and clasping it in her own. “You’ve never doubted my judgement before.”

Sparx gave a harsh laugh. “Prove me wrong, then.”

Nova let go of his hand and smiled at Sparx affectionately. “See you at 7, then? My place?”

Sparx let himself smile a little. “Sure. 7 o’clock.”

Nova knew him inside and out. If she saw something actually good in there, who was he to complain?

-

They say that whether you know who it is or not, something special happens when you first kiss your soulmate.

Sparx wouldn’t know. He still hasn’t kissed anyone. (Aside from the same spin-the-bottle game that Nova’s unfortunate first kiss took place at.)

His first date with Nova had gone so well it even surprised himself. Well, if you can count “staying inside and holding hands while watching movies until they fell asleep” as a date, but neither of them were much for extravagant stuff anyways. Not really.

When he left the next morning, Nova had given him a soft kiss on the cheek again, and just like the first time, it made something inside him heat up like a hot coal. Sparx had once again barely been able to communicate much besides a basic yes or no afterwards.

Their next date would be a bit more exciting (going around and exploring the city the next weekend, hopefully with some wistful gazing at the ocean to set the romantic mood) so Sparx had plenty of time to rocket back and forth between anticipation and anxiety while looking forward to the date.

Date. Sparx was going on a _second_ date with Nova.

In a small spurt of desperate confidence, Sparx yanked up his jacket sleeve in the middle of class and wrote to his soulmate, _help im gonna be going on a second date with the love of my life and im dying._

Oh, yeah, real smooth there, _dude_.

His soulmate, fortunately, took it in stride. _Lot of events in our lives are lining up, huh? If they’ve already tolerated you through the first date, chances are they actually like you. Just be cool. Be yourself:_

Leave it to his soulmate to know the perfect answer. Sparx smiled despite himself, already relieved seeing the answer. He scribbled a quick _thanks_ before tugging his sleeve back down and going back to his work.

-

And finally, their lips met, so hesitantly that you’d think they were strangers, and upon touch something inside him clicked, and oh. 

_Oh_.

Of _course_ Nova was his soulmate. How could it be anyone else? And if the wondrous look on Nova’s face when they parted was anything to go by, her thoughts were similar to his own.

So he pulled her in for another kiss. And another.

Finally, they pulled apart, gasping for air and for something else, something less physical. Giddily, Nova reached up with her hand to cup Sparx’s cheek, and she leaned their foreheads together. “It’s you.”

Sparx smiled back, and pecked her forehead, before pulling her somehow even closer to him. “It’s me. It’s- god, it’s been the two of us this whole time.”

Nova could only nod wordlessly, before giving him another kiss.

It was always going to be them. They were soulmates, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> next time i try to write 4k words in one week, murder me.


End file.
